Birmingham Post

Even the FA Trophy, once the showpiece of the non-league game, has been subjugated to the desperation of the big-spending clubs in the Nationwide Conference to reach the Football League.
Meanwhile, as rugby's club v country debate boils to a point where it might actually reach a conclusion, all sides seem to agree that the knockout is a waste of space. Even my colleague Brian Dick argued last week for the abolition of the EDF Energy Cup, claiming that "cups belong in a bygone era."
Not for Jason Cadden, Ben Mackey and the citizens of Leamington Spa, they don't. Let me introduce you to the FA Vase.
The knockout tournament for those clubs not far enough up the non-league pyramid to get into the Trophy, the Vase is one event that still stirs the true football fan, player and manager.
Listen to Mr Mackey, who scored twice as Leamington, managed by Cadden, beat Retford United 5-1 before 1,380 people in a last-16 tie at the New Windmill Ground on Saturday.
"It's exciting times for the club. People are talking about the final being at Wembley and that would be fantastic. We've got our hearts set on Wembley. That would be the dream for every player in the dressing room," he said.
Now when did you last hear a professional football player express those sentiments, or a professional rugby player say they want to play in a cup final at Twickenham?
Mackey and his colleagues, however, are playing at a level where they still get starry-eyed about what they're doing; where squillion pounds per week wage-packets haven't dulled the thrill of playing, or the grind of daily training and playing hasn't worn down the body.
I'll confess to a soft spot for the FA Vase. I was two years into my career as a news reporter on the Tamworth Herald when the Lambs, then gracing the West Midlands League, set off on the run which took them to the 1989 FA Vase final.
They got there by defeating Bridgnorth Town, Gresley Rovers, Ilkeston Town (a game I still remember as my mates and I were attacked by home fans as we returned to our car), Eastwood Hanley, Wisbech Town and North Ferriby, setting up a date with Eastern League club Sudbury Town at Wembley (RIP) on May 6 1989.
A record crowd of 26,487 watched a 1-1 draw, roughly half of whom were from Tamworth, with 11,201 attending the replay at Peterborough just four days later.
The Lambs won 3-0 and the several thousand Tamworthians who were there will still tell you it was the best day of their sporting lives.
They will do so because they and the players, ordinary blokes and many of whom still live in the area, understood sport's ability to lift the spirits of those willing to be inspired by it.
Ben Mackey obviously understands that. I hope he gets the chance to taste what those Tamworth players tasted 18 years ago - and I do hope I haven't put the mockers on Leamington's chances.